The happiest people do these 7 things … and you can too!

03 Aug The happiest people do these 7 things … and you can too!

So much has been written about the burgeoning happiness movement. While combing through my own research and notes on what happy and successful people do, it struck me how intentional they are about choosing the right mindset to become happier and more optimistic.

While countless books have been written on happiness, I’m narrowing this article down to a working template for living life to the fullest.

Here are seven sure signs of the happiest people.

1. They choose to have healthy relationships.

I’ve learned to be picky over the years about whom I let into my inner circle of friends. Why? Because I believe close relationships are the key to sustaining happiness.

One profound longitudinal study proves this. For 80 years, researchers followed 268 men who entered Harvard in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age.

Robert Waldinger, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the current director of the study, told the Harvard Gazette: “The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health. Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation.”

For participants, half of whom are still alive as of this writing, the only thing that really mattered was their relationships to other people.

2. Have a mindset of giving.

The late Jim Rohn said, “Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.”​

In the book The Go-Giver, the main character, Joe, learns that changing his focus from getting to giving–putting others’ interests first and consistently adding value to their lives–ultimately leads to unexpected returns.

And before you restrict your giving to financial generosity to something or someone, consider the positive impact of giving of your time, mentoring others, supporting a cause, fighting injustice, and having a pay-it-forward mentality…